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Tuesday, March 6, 2012

The Gospel According to "Firefly"

For a preacher who loves to mine
contemporary culture (that ephemeral thing) for theological nuggets, the late
TV series “Firefly” represents a rare gift.
Each of the all-too-brief fifteen episodes and the movie “Serenity”
based upon it offer a number of lines in which the perceptive theologian can
find Christian truth. (You just need to
have your ears wide open, and your brown coat on.) Here I would like to recall two of them, both
of them much needed Firefly insights for believers who strive to remain
faithful to Jesus Christ in the midst of an increasingly secular world. (You can read another Firefly nugget in the
Sounding blog here.)

The
first comes from a conversation (make that “interrogation”), in which Malcolm
Reynolds, the captain of the ship “Firefly”, is asked by an Alliance Commander
(i.e. The Bad Guy) about the name of his ship.
Prior to buying and captaining the Firefly ship, Mal had fought the Alliance on the side of
the rebels. The Alliance
was victorious, and it crushed the rebels (whose uniform consisted of brown
coats), with the decisive battle occurring in Serenity Valley. Mal named his ship “Serenity” after that
battle, arousing the suspicion of the interrogating Alliance Commander. “Seems odd you’d name your ship after a
battle you were on the wrong side of”, he opined. Mal’s reply:
“May have been
the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one.”

In this reply of quiet defiance, we
hear the voice of the martyrs. Whether
it be in the early centuries of the pagan Roman Empire, or in the twentieth
century of Communist Russia, or in Islamic lands ruled by a ruthless sharia
law, Christians have routinely found themselves in battles the world thought
they were on the wrong side of. For the
world, be it pagan, Communist, Islamic, or militantly secular, what matters is
who wins. Wealth, popularity, and even
survival depend upon being on the winning side, and the world has always thought
the Christians were fools for fighting what everyone knew would be a losing
battle. The world’s cry is ever, “Who is
like the Beast, and who is able to wage war with it?” (Rev. 13:4) Mal and the martyrs know differently. In this age, we may be on the losing
side. We are not convinced it is the
wrong one. And when the Lord Jesus
returns in glory, the true winners and losers will at last be revealed. In the meanwhile, “Here is the perseverance
and the faith of the saints” (Rev. 13:10).

The second Firefly theological
nugget comes at the end of the movie “Serenity”, when Mal referred to his
ship. In the midst of a hostile world, still
ruled by the Alliance,
this ship was not just a ship. It was home
to Mal and the crew which had become his second family; it was their freedom,
their hope for physical survival, for their spiritual survival—the only way
they could hold out with integrity against the all-but-invincible and universal
Alliance. Mal tells his new pilot that she has to love
the ship. Loving the ship is matter of
life and death. As Mal said, “Love keeps
her in the air when she oughtta fall down”.

We Christians are also surrounded by
an all-but-invincible and universal power—the World, which opposes us and would
seduce our hearts away from God. The
Scriptures are quite clear: “The whole world
lies in the power of the Evil One” (1 Jn. 5:19). We survive because we live in a ship—the Church of God, adrift upon the sea of the world,
floating through the black. The Church
is not just an organization. It is our
home, our freedom, our hope for spiritual survival. And if we are to survive, we must love the
Church, cling to her, defend her, serve our fellow crew, the brothers and
sisters within her, and never leave her.
Love like this does the impossible, and helps us survive in this hostile
world. As St. Paul said, love never fails (1 Cor.
13:8). Love keeps us in the air when we
oughtta fall down.

I'm a huge Doctor Who fan, and I definitely see some solid theology in that show.The Doctor is Time Lord, from the planet Gallifrey. A peculiarity of his biology is that as his body approaches death, it will regenerate, causing his entire physical appearance to change. This of course means that the lead role of Doctor Who can be played by more than one actor. But it allows for deeper meanings.Because sometimes the Doctor voluntarily allows for himself to die, with a hope of being regenerated. He's at least twice let himself get killed in order to save the universe, but has also often sacrificed himself for one of his travelling companions. In this, he becomes a Christic figure, dying for others in the hope of resurrection, but also defeating evil forces. And ultimately showing that 'Love is as strong as death' (Song of Solomon 8:6).

Fr. Lawrence on Ancient Faith:

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Fr. L. at oca.org

Followers

Father Lawrence Farley holds an M.Div.from Wycliffe College, Toronto School of Theology, and also completed a Certificate program at St. Tikhon's Seminary.

Since 1987 he has served as the pastor of St. Herman's Orthodox Church, OCA (Archdiocese of Canada) in Langley BC. Several priests, deacons, and lay members of new missions have emerged from the membership of St. Herman's.